Oct. 12, 2026・Issue #128
1. Behind the Snopes: What happened to the "Cornell 7"?
Our fact-checkers come to work ready to investigate whatever is on readers' minds, with a hint of skepticism and the highest degree of journalism ethics. From dangerous scientific falsehoods to celebrity conspiracy theories, the team scours niche corners of social media, conducts interviews, requests public records and more to set the record straight.
This month, reporter Nur Ibrahim explains how we investigated claims surrounding the seven men accused of raping a woman at Cornell University.
Claims have spread online regarding the professional and academic statuses of the so-called "Cornell 7" — the seven men at Cornell University accused of drugging and raping a 20-year-old woman identified as "Jane Doe." Posts claimed some of the men lost their jobs, while others were still enrolled at the university.
It became clear to us most of the news about the men's academic and professional status relied on gossip outlets and anonymous sources. A Cornell spokesperson said the university did issue suspensions and expelled students in the wake of the 2024 accusations, but was not legally permitted to identify which student faced which punishment.
We obtained access to the university's student and alumni directory, using it to find each student's affiliation and contact information. Several of the names had "non-applicable" college affiliations. Some students' names were later removed from the database.
Video footage and a lawyer's statement proved at least one of the accused was still enrolled on campus. We reached out to most of the accused and are still awaiting responses. We are still seeking contact information for one of the accused.
Read our full investigation to learn more about the status of each of the accused.
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2. Snopes-ing 101: Biden vs. Trump prices
We hope our work gives you the tools to do your own fact-checking. This month, reporter Laerke Christensen details how she fact-checked a claim regarding the prices of household goods under Biden and Trump — and how you can look out for "bad data" online.
As fact-checkers, we are often faced with bad data. Though people tend to believe statistics they see on social media platforms, there are many different ways someone can manipulate data to suit a particular narrative.
That appeared to be the case with one graphic floating around Facebook last month, which claimed prices for a number of household goods and services rose faster during the Biden administration than during Trump's second term.
The graphic was neither factual nor fair because it compared time periods of different lengths and appeared to use fabricated numbers. We realized we needed to create our own fair comparison by looking at the first 20 months of Biden's presidency and the first 20 months of Trump's second term.
How did we do that? We figured out the percentage change in inflation from January 2021 to August 2022 for Biden and from January 2025 to August 2026 for Trump, mapping out which presidency saw the highest percentage increase across the same data points the graphic used.
The bottom line: When looking at data, it can be easy to be swept along with the narrative the data is presenting. We encourage looking past the initial message and, if possible, checking the data source and independently confirming the numbers yourself. If you can't, you might have encountered a batch of bad data.
3. Overheard at Snopes
We look into a lot of weird stuff at Snopes. We imagine it's very interesting to be a fly on the wall, so we wanted to give you a look at some of the things we have to say when fact-checking.
Overheard: "get jeopardy'd"
— Reporter Jack Izzo
4. Since we last met: Snopes' new audience manager
We want to keep you in the loop on Snopes' growth, from launching new features to expanding our reporting footprint. Below, Executive Editor Jessica Lee introduces a new position in the company and the promotion of a staff member to fill it.
Snopes has created a new leadership role to help oversee our membership program and strengthen our newsletters: an audience manager. I'm thrilled to announce the promotion of Megan Loe, a former hybrid web producer-editor in the newsroom, to the important position.
With the new title, Loe is splitting her time between the newsroom and operations department, bridging the gap between our daily production of fact checks and business initiatives to generate revenue. The role requires product management and business skills, as well as a journalistic sensibility. She writes, edits and coordinates work across the company.
Among her achievements so far, she helped launch a new Sunday newsletter with stories only accessible to members like you. That effort has been successful in getting new people to recognize our independent, honest journalism isn't free to do. Together, Snopes members keep the newsroom fact-checking.
If you have any ideas for improving your experience as a Snopes member, let us know. Loe is eager to hear from you.
Mental health break
Snopes investigates some grim and depressing claims, so we know how important it is to your mental health to see something silly, funny, or just plain heartwarming. Here are some links that made us smile.
Fat Bear Week - Reddit user u/PhysicsEagle
Toronto Zoo measured baby hippo's height in "Heated Rivalry" books - Instagram account @thetorontozoo
New cat alert - X account @NatGeo
5. Snopes-worthy media
What Snopes is paying attention to across the web.
— David Folkenflik, NPR
— Andrea González-Ramírez, The Cut
— Nikole Hannah-Jones, The New York Times Magazine
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